


The Trouble With Team Bonding

by RetroactiveCon



Series: Praying That It'll Be You [18]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Autistic Cisco Ramon, Fluff without Plot, Multi, Star Trek References, Team as Family, Trans Cisco Ramon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-24 20:22:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22443874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RetroactiveCon/pseuds/RetroactiveCon
Summary: “So, my house tonight?” Cisco asks. “Star Trek, takeout, bring a dessert to pass?”
Relationships: Barry Allen/Hartley Rathaway, Jesse "Quick" Wells/Wally West, Ronnie Raymond/Caitlin Snow
Series: Praying That It'll Be You [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1562548
Comments: 11
Kudos: 74





	The Trouble With Team Bonding

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Reisho](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reisho/gifts), [SophiaCatherine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophiaCatherine/gifts).



> For Reisho, here's 'Team Flash dinner (sort of) with Barry and Hart being adorable.' SophiaCatherine, hopefully this feels more like Hartley is at home with the team!

“So, my house tonight?” Cisco asks. “Star Trek, takeout, bring a dessert to pass?” 

Hartley ignores the offer out of habit. The rest of the team likes to hang out after a long day’s work, relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. He knows what they think of him, so he always assumes he’s not invited. 

“That sounds great!” Barry lights up. “I have…um…let me think about the dessert.” 

“Nope,” Jax says. “Trek isn’t my thing. Plus I’ll get the play-by-play from Ronnie and Grey.” He casts a glance—equal parts amused and exasperated—at the rest of the Firestorm trio. 

“Perhaps not.” Stein gives Cisco an apologetic glance. “I fear I too must decline. I have what the youngsters call a ‘hot date.’” He looks absurdly pleased with himself. Behind him, Jax shakes his head, laughing.

“He’s going to eat pizza and play chess with Clarissa,” Ronnie clarifies. Cisco snorts. Stein gives both of them a slightly ruffled glare. “I’m game if Caity is.” 

“I can bring ice cream,” Caitlin volunteers. “And you know we have to watch ‘The Trouble with Tribbles.’” 

“Tribbles, really?” Cisco arches an eyebrow. Then he addresses Hartley, Harry, and Jesse. “I need your RSVPs so I can plan for takeout.”

Without giving Harry a chance to snark, Jesse grabs his arm and pronounces, “Of course we’re coming! Can I bring Wally?”

Cisco grins. “Sure, and Iris too, if she wants to come. The more the merrier.” He delivers a sharp poke to Hartley’s shoulder. “So what’s your RSVP?”

Before he can answer, Barry wraps firm arms around his waist and squeezes. “You have to come,” he pleads. “You never hang out with us.”

“I assume I’m not wanted,” Hartley says curtly. Barry makes a wounded sound and cuddles closer. Faced with such a piteous display, Hartley melts. “Go and have fun. You can tell me about it later.”

“Dude, I never said you weren’t invited.” Cisco holds up quizzical hands. A Twizzler dangles loosely from one of them. “Of course you can come. I just figured you never want to.” 

Admitting that he’s felt left out would be laughable. _(Poor, wretched, lonely Hartley—he made himself like this, he can cut the self-pitying crap.)_ Instead, he leans his head against Barry’s shoulder and says, “I suppose, for your sake, I can give it a try.”

“If you two start making out on my furniture, I’m kicking you out,” Cisco says without missing a beat. Hartley would expect nothing less. 

In the hour between when they leave STAR Labs and when they convene at Cisco’s flat, Barry mixes up a massive bowl of chocolate fudge cookie dough. “You can just eat it with a spoon,” he explains. “Joe used to yell at me for eating raw dough, but I’m an adult now and I do what I want.”

“It’s your fault when we all get salmonella.” That doesn’t stop Hartley from scooping up a spoonful of batter and sucking on it. It’s perfect—rich and chocolatey with the faintest hint of salt. He understands now why Barry wants to eat it by the bowlful. “And I spoke too soon.”

“Good, right?” Barry beams. “You’ve got a little…here.” 

Hartley raises a hand to his lips. Before he can test for chocolate, Barry’s thumb swipes across his lower lip. Hartley sucks it into his mouth and licks it clean. “Better?”

“Um.” Barry’s eyes have gone wide. “I…I think we had better not do that at Cisco’s house.” 

Just to be contrary, Hartley drags his tongue along the length of Barry’s thumb. Barry’s breath catches in his throat. “Yeah, uh, that…that’s not allowed either.”

Obediently, he releases Barry’s hand and takes a step back. “You’re right,” he says primly. 

Barry gives a whole-body shiver as though to wake himself up. It does nothing to lessen his obvious disappointment. Hartley has to hide a laugh—sweet boy, what did he expect would happen? “Um, can we put that on hold for later?”

“Yes, sweet boy, we can.”

They get to Cisco’s flat at precisely the appointed time. This happens a lot; it’s a compromise between Hartley’s burning desire to get everywhere early and Barry’s chronic lateness. They run into the delivery man in the hallway. Barry, who apparently knows him from school, strikes up a conversation. 

When Cisco opens the door, he exclaims, “Oh, the food’s here!” As an afterthought, he adds, “Nice of you to join us, you two.” 

The delivery man smirks. “Say what you will about the job, but I’m never unwanted. Expecting a lot of people?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” Cisco shoots a glance at Barry. “You’re not gonna go in on this?” 

“I probably should, shouldn’t I?” Barry fishes a wad of cash from his hip pocket. Hartley chips in a little more before slipping past them into the flat. This is his first time visiting Cisco at home, and he has to admit it looks exactly as he would expect: more than slightly messy, covered in the detritus of a hundred special interests and half-finished projects, and full of Team Flash. Caitlin and Ronnie are sharing cheesy fries; Jesse and Wally are arguing playfully while Harry looks on with grudging acceptance. 

“All right, everyone, help yourselves!” Cisco comes into the kitchen laden with bags of takeout. Behind him, Barry carries another bag. They set the containers in neat rows on the countertop. Without being asked, Caitlin fetches out plates, bowls, and silverware. Hartley sneaks in just long enough to set the bowl of cookie dough on the counter with the other desserts. 

“Uh, everybody else should go first.” Barry stands aside. “I’m kind of a dispose-all?” 

“My dude, we know.” Cisco claps a hand on his shoulder. “Which is why I ordered you like five boxes of orange chicken. Trust me, I know what you like.” He makes a face and mumbles, “I could probably have worded that better.” 

Given permission, Barry grabs two containers of orange chicken, bolts over to the sofa, and starts eating. Hartley helps himself to a bowl of vegetable fried rice and drifts into the living room. He’s loath to take a seat until he sees where everyone else sits; the last thing he wants to do is disrupt a well-established seating arrangement. 

“Hartley, come here!” Barry beckons him closer. As soon as he’s within grabbing distance, Barry seizes him around the waist, pulls him into his lap, and cuddles him as he might a large teddy bear. “This is good.”

“It might be if you weren’t chewing in my ear.” Since getting enhanced hearing, Hartley can’t abide chewing noises. (For that matter, he didn’t like them before.) He’d all but forgotten that was half of why he avoided Team Flash get-togethers. 

“Oh, sorry.” Barry releases him as though he’s been burned. With a soft sigh, Hartley remains where he is. 

“I suppose I can cope.” Once Cisco puts on Star Trek, the dialogue will blot out most of the background noises, including chewing sounds. Besides, Hartley will never refuse an opportunity to have Barry cuddle him. “Go ahead and cuddle me, sweet boy.” 

In twos and threes, the others trickle into the room. Cisco sits beside Barry and Hartley; Harry sits on his other side. Caitlin and Ronnie shift two chairs closer together. Jesse and Wally sprawl on the floor. 

“No Iris?” Barry asks mournfully. 

“Mm,” Cisco says around a mouthful of shrimp. “She said she had a ‘hot date,’ like Stein. I think it’s cute she and Eddie still do date nights even though they’re married.” He flips through Original Series episodes, musing, “Well, ‘Gamesters of Triskelion’ is an interesting one. Oooof, ‘Patterns of Force’…should we watch that one and be grateful we haven’t had to deal with time-hopping Nazis?”

“Yet,” Harry intones ominously. 

“Thank you for your support, Captain Ominous.” Cisco shoots a glance at Caitlin. “Okay, tell you what. ‘Gamesters of Triskelion’ is right after ‘Trouble with Tribbles.’ Let’s just watch them back to back.”

“I’m game if you are,” she agrees. “Or we could always watch ‘Plato’s Stepchildren.’” 

“Oooh, that’s a good one!” Cisco hurriedly flips to the third season. “Seeing no objections, I hereby nominate ‘Plato’s Stepchildren’…”

“Just play the show, Ramon,” Harry grumbles. 

Under his breath, Hartley mutters, “I’m a physicist, not a physician, damnit.” Cisco and Jesse both snort. The episode starts to play before Harry can take him to task. 

“Does this remind anyone else of Grodd in a really, really unpleasant way?” Barry asks presently. 

“Don’t remind me.” Cisco brandishes chopsticks at him. 

Wally makes a ‘time out’ signal. “Can we agree to just…not talk about metahumans or meta-monsters for the rest of the night? We’re here to chill, so can we chill?” As though to emphasize the importance of relaxing, he leans on Jesse's shoulder. She makes a contented sound and skims her fingers through his hair.

“We can chill,” Barry agrees quietly. He huddles against Hartley’s back as though trying to hide from memories of Grodd. Hartley turns just enough to kiss his temple. 

“I’ve got you, sweet boy.”

When the episode ends, they take a break to get dessert. Since everyone seems eager to try Barry’s cookie dough, Hartley contents himself with Oreos. He disassembles them with care, peeling off one chocolate cookie from each sandwich, sticking the crème together, and repeating this process until the stack of crème grows.

“What are you _doing?”_

When he looks up, Cisco is staring in horror. He peels the last chocolate cookies off the crème tower, pops them in his mouth, and then eats the crème. “This is how they’re designed to be eaten.”

“No, it’s not!” Cisco sounds deeply offended. Once, Hartley would have mocked him. By now, he’s learned that Cisco’s preference for oral stim involves firm opinions about food. “They’re made with the perfect cookie-to-crème ratio. You’re—you’re—upsetting the balance of the Force!” 

“They don’t have Quadruple Stuff Oreos on Earth-1?” Jesse cocks her head. Cisco turns to gape at her. 

“Your world is bad and wrong.” 

Just to torment him, Hartley grabs another three Oreos. He shouldn’t, but he’ll worry about that later. 

“Give me that!” Cisco snatches one of his Oreos, dips it in his bowl of cookie dough, and stuffs the entire absurd confection into his mouth. His brow furrows, but resolutely, he keeps chewing.

“That’s not better,” Hartley says smugly. 

“Ith tho!” Cisco swallows his mouthful and amends, “Is so! Double Oreos are fine…I guess…and that wasn’t terrible. Don’t know that I’d eat it again, but…”

“I’m playing ‘The Trouble with Tribbles’!” Caitlin must have slipped past them. When they turn toward her voice, she’s perched in Ronnie’s lap, the remote in her hand.

“You—” Cisco starts. He’s interrupted by a flourish of trumpets that doesn’t seem to come from the television. Hartley smirks; his alarm, as usual, has perfect timing. With a mutter of, “It is Wednesday, my dudes,” Cisco silences his phone and hurries into the next room. 

“What is that ruckus?” Harry asks. 

“Glenn Miller.” Caitlin, heedless of Cisco’s absence, begins ‘The Trouble with Tribbles.’ As soon as the opening music fills the living room, she sets aside the remote and leans back in Ronnie’s arms.

“I know _that.”_ Harry’s irritation is significantly less intimidating when his mouth is smeared with chocolate. “I just don’t know what it means.”

“It means it’s T-time.” Cisco emerges from the bedroom. He walks with a pronounced limp that Hartley suspects is mostly for show. “I picked it up from a trans guy I met at a conference once. He said he uses it because it’s really hard to ignore, and he wasn’t wrong.” He flops onto the sofa between Harry and Barry. “Hartley, come on! Don’t just lurk in the corner eating your bad wrong Oreos. Come and eat away your tribbles with us.”

“That’s appalling.” Hartley returns to his perch on Barry’s lap. Barry makes a contented sound reminiscent of a tribble’s purr and cuddles him insistently. “I don’t eat tribbles.” 

“Tribble jerky,” Barry murmurs. “They go ‘aiiiieee’ when they die.” Hartley casts a horrified glance over his shoulder. He doesn't remember _that_ from the episode. Sheepishly, Barry adds, “It’s a long story.” 

“Okay, okay, hush now.” Cisco flaps a hand at both of them. “Let me lament my tribbles in peace.” 

If only to avoid provoking any more tribble puns, Hartley obeys.


End file.
